Prosecutors: Man hid 1.5 pounds of heroin in vacant house

July 28, 2013|By Geoff Ziezulewicz | Tribune reporter

Lajuan M. Jackson, 19, and Joseph D. Bowers, 21, were arrested on heroin-related charges after police found 1.5 pounds of the drug in a vacant house, according to court records. (Chicago Police photographs)

A North Lawndale man was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail Sunday after he was busted with more than 1.5 pounds of heroin Saturday that was valued at about $71,000.

Lajuan M. Jackson, 19, of the 900 block of South Independence Boulevard, faces a possession of more than 400 grams and less than 900 grams of heroin felony charge after cops found the stash in a vacant house Saturday on the 3700 block of West Lexington Street, according to court records.

Jackson also faces a manufacturing and delivery of less than 10 grams of heroin charge, according to court records.

A co-seller, Joseph D. Bowers, 21, of Mount Prospect, faces lesser possession, manufacturing and delivery charges and was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail Sunday at Cook County Bond Court, according to court records.

Police on Saturday watched Bowers take currency from various individuals outside of a house on the 3700 block of South Lexington Avenue before reaching into a mailbox and handing something back to the individuals, according to court records.

After stopping one customer’s vehicle who had thrown plastic bags of what appeared to be heroin out the window, police watched Bowers and Jackson meet in the gangway next to the vacant house, according to court records.

Jackson was seen handing Bowers items he had retrieved from a third-floor closet in the vacant building, according to court records.

Police searched the closet and found 713 grams of heroin in various bundles that was collectively valued at $71,300, according to court records.